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Monday, May 31, 2010

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

Today's parables continue with a different theme (as opposed to sowing and harvesting). We begin with themes of treasure and value, and it continues into an understanding of judgment and its nature.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." My study bible notes, "The Kingdom of God is compared to an earthly treasure and a costly pearl (v. 46). The driving desire of men for wealth pictures the desire of the soul for heavenly riches. The jewel is described as hidden because it requires faith and perseverance to discover it." When we seek faith, the thing that feeds the soul, there is nothing more important, nothing to compare to this need, this hunger, that is within us for spiritual food. It is the priceless reality for which there is no substitute. We put the kingdom first. In this sense, the kingdom is illustrated through these parables in the same way that Jesus answered the scribe's question about the greatest commandments. The first greatest commandment, Jesus replied, was "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." So it is with this pearl, and this treasure. It is greater than all else, and asks of us the dedication of such value. But the parable is more than a commandment - it teaches us about our own nature and our need for this kingdom, the spiritual food that our souls seek. There is something we truly need, and when we open up to that hunger within ourselves we understand that nothing is too great to sacrifice for this fulfillment. We are creatures made for worship, and only the good food for the soul will fill that need properly and well. We will have this need for this divine relationship, but we seek to fill it with many things. The pearl of great price is that which we seek in truth, which fills truly our need.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." My study bible notes here: "The Kingdom is compared to a fishing net which gathers the good and the wicked, an image similar to that of the parable of the tares (v. 36-43). The point is that the final judgment will finally disclose and separate the wicked from the righteous." An interesting juxtaposition here: of the parables of the great treasure and the pearl of great price, with the story of the dragnet of the kingdom that is searching for its own great treasures and will leave behind that which is not desired. We understand that the Kingdom also seeks its own, that which it is like. It seeks the treasure of the just and the righteous for itself. It will discard that which is not like itself: that which is unjust, unrighteous; in the words of the gospel translation, "the wicked."

In the search for those who will believe, this dragnet will catch all. Similar to the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, as my study bible points out, this net may catch all sorts. We are taught about the treasure and the pearl of great price to understand the value of this kingdom. We are also given the understanding that this net of the kingdom will catch all and sundry, all those who are attracted to it. But, as in the teachings of the Beatitudes, it is that which is in the heart which will bear the truth of righteousness - of that which is like itself. In the explanation of the Wheat and the Tares, these are the "sons of the kingdom." Discerning these parables, we get a sense of like which calls like: God's image is also sought by the Divine in those for whom this kingdom is truly that pearl of great price. The great dragnet is a search for those who will love God - not with the outward form alone, as hypocrites, but with the heart of love. Love seeks its own, that which is capable of such love, for whom this is the great treasure.

Elsewhere (in the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus has taught that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (see "No one can serve two masters"). We are to understand that our treasure is what we love, and by it is defined the heart, what is truly within us, the center of our souls and our consciousness. This is a teaching on what we value, an extension of his teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. But with the introduction of the subject of judgment, we are given a taste also of the nature of our Father and the kingdom. God also seeks that which is like God, the kingdom seeks its own children. We become children by adoption, by love. Only it is not just our Father that chooses, it is we also who make our choices deep within ourselves about what we love, what we value, what we then become by participation in that love. At all times this door is open, grace is offered. We have but to choose that which we value to become the sons of the kingdom, "like God" ("Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.") I find a great consistency in these teachings, and an interesting organization in Matthew's gospel. First we have the great teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus teaches specifically and with great explanation his ideas of the kingdom, the nature of love and how we become "like God." But in these parables, there are vivid word-pictures that teach us the nature of all of this working, and how it works in us. In today's reading, we are given this picture of the great desire for the "one thing necessary." My study bible has it right when it points out that "the driving desire of men for wealth pictures the desire of the soul for heavenly riches." And it also fits with the concept of judgment, and that which is cast into the furnace. As before, we explore the concept of the holy fire. I believe it is that which burns away that which we need to cast off within ourselves, which we are better off without, as in Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount: see If your right eye causes you to sin. Nothing is too great a sacrifice for this treasure. What we love becomes a part of us, we become a part of it. Everything else that does not participate in the righteousness of the kingdom we are better off without; we practice repentance by discarding that which does not make us "like God" - "as our Father in heaven is perfect." Which do you choose? What do you love? Where is your treasure and your pearl of great price?

Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." My study bible notes on this passage that Jesus did not reject the Old Testament, but called it treasure. What we understand here is the reality of the present gospel, that does not reject the old but transforms it through new value and the new perspective that is gained therein. What will you treasure, therefore? How does it color where you have been and what you have known? Going back once again to the Sermon on the Mount, Christ's words illuminate what he told his disciples at that time, that he came not to destroy but to fulfill. How do these parables help you to fill out what you know, and to teach about what is written on the heart?

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Matthew 13:36-43

Similarly to Jesus' discussion of the Parable of the Sower, this parable - of the Wheat and the Tares - appears in two sequences. First we are given the parable as preached to the crowds ("the multitude"), and then we are given Jesus' private explanation to his disciples, after he "sent the multitude away and went into the house." For the readings of the Parable of the Sower, see Why do you speak to them in parables? and Therefore hear the parable of the sower. For the first part of this discussion of the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, as Jesus preached the parable to the crowds, see The Wheat and the Tares. As with the parable of the Sower, the parable of the Wheat and the Tares was also accompanied by Jesus' explanation about parables and their usage, in yesterday's reading, Things kept secret from the foundation of the world. There is an interesting pattern of "doubling" in Matthew's gospel, not only with this pattern of the parables, but also in stories that appear in other synoptic gospels: the Gergesene demoniac, for example, appears as two men healed in Matthew's gospel.

In The Wheat and the Tares, I shared a note from my study bible that also applies to today's reading, Jesus' explanation. I'll repeat again, with an added note that applies to this section: "The parable of the wheat and tares builds on the previous parable of the sower. Here Christ gives attention to the work of the enemy, the devil, who comes to sow his own seed after the fruits have multiplied. Falsehood comes in after truth: after the prophets came false prophets; after Christ will come the Antichrist. The devil fashions falsehood and heresy to resemble the true Faith: the weeds look somewhat like the wheat. The evil one also comes while everybody is asleep. While the devices of the evil one do not extend into heaven, in this age he intermingles the counterfeit with the Kingdom. This parable explains why the Church does not expel her nominal members. To weed out the tares is to disrupt the wheat. Those who are watchful and remain faithful will shine forth as the sun (v. 43, above) forever."

It's important that we understand the concept of "watchfulness" as noted about the last verse (above, in the note from my study bible). We are to be awake, not asleep. We are not blind followers, but those for whom "the law is written on our hearts" as in Jeremiah 31:33: "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." We are responsible to learn discernment, to be watchful. In this picture of the Wheat and the Tares, in which the tares (a kind of ryegrass which closely resembles wheat) seem to be like the wheat, we are challenged to discernment, to understand from the heart what we are to follow, and what snares we may be tempted toward that we wish to avoid. This is the picture that Jesus gives us.

The judgment is at the end of the age. We are not to practice that judgment - it is beyond us to understand. That is up to the Son of Man, and his angels, the reapers. Jesus clearly refers to himself here as judge - the Son of Man is a messianic title from the book of Daniel. Jesus tells us that at this time of the judgment, "then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." It seems to me that this, therefore, will be a time when discernment is easy, the time of trial and confusion is over -- and it will be obvious which "sons" are truly sons of the Father. But until that time, we are in the here and now of the current age. We are all in this together, and we are in a time where there is yet time, in which the whole process expressed through the parable of the Sower: where some seed takes root, some is choked by the cares of the world, some taken by difficulty and tribulation, and some is never understood at all, is still happening around us and with us. This is our life, our current state. We are meant to be those who persevere in righteousness.

Christ makes it clear here that he knew perfectly well what kind of world we live in, now or then. Life isn't always easy, and we live side by side with the myriad ways there are of interpreting these words. We live with those who appear outwardly righteous and are not - as he warned many times in his own gospel message, preaching against the hypocrites, and those who are "wolves in sheep's clothing," whom he also said would come in his name. We live in a world where all is not black and white, where the unrighteous may resemble the righteous. We live in a world where the righteous were treated as criminals, and the one who calls himself Son of Man here was crucified. We are to be awake, and we need discernment, and perseverance. It is at the end of the age when "the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." But not in the present time; in the present time, we persevere, we cultivate the laws written on the heart and in our minds, we seek to understand and to grow the good growth of the seed of the kingdom. This is our job now.

Many people find it distasteful and frightening to speak of judgment. Certainly these passages have been misused, and by those whom he called "wolves in sheep's clothing." But to have an awareness of the importance of discernment, wakefulness, is extremely important. To have an awareness of judgment in the sense in which our choices are important means that we are not blind sheep, but rational sheep. We have responsibility. As human beings, we are not blind creatures without choice, but upon us is conferred the choice of what sort of world we wish to live in, what sort of world we create. Do we follow the Father who is love? Or do we seek "the enemy" which sows hardship, cruelty, hypocrisy? These are the questions we ask ourselves and to which this parable points. They are questions written on our own hearts, for each of us to choose and to seek to understand for ourselves, so that we make our choices. God who is love also sends a fire of love which is cleansing, to cleanse each of us - as in the fire of the burning bush, which burned with fire but was not consumed. The saints throughout history have written about this burning fire as a fire of love. The apostles on the way to Emmaus spoke of how their "hearts were burning" as Christ opened the Scriptures to them. It is also that fire of love that teaches us what needs to go, which ways we need to change and what things we need to discard from our hearts and minds, so that we are healed. I think of this fire as that fire of love with which the angel burned in the midst of the bush. It is a holy fire. And hence, we make our choices: do we choose that which does not burn but lives in the fire - or that which perishes in the fire? It is up to us. God is love - and the very nature of judgment, therefore, is love. It is up to us to choose that love as part of ourselves and our identity. In this way we will be the righteous, those who shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Another parable he put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

Another parable he spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable he did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

My study bible has a note on the two parables taught today: "These two short parables signify the startling success of God's Kingdom. A few weak fishermen will convert the whole world because of the divine power of the gospel." Let us examine the two parables for today's reading.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." I love the parable of the mustard seed, because it gives us another perspective on sowing and harvesting. Each of the parables Jesus has taught in this sequence of readings (the Sower, the Wheat and the Tares, the Mustard Seed) has given us a glimpse of an aspect of the kingdom, of the word Jesus is teaching and preaching, his good news. In this one, sowing and harvesting is shown to the effect of giving us a glimpse of the power of its growth. The mustard seed does not exactly become a tree but rather a great and sturdy shrub, so indeed the birds can nest in its branches. This parable is not only about the great growth of the kingdom in the world, but also can be likened to its growth in us. Once it takes root in the heart, there is no telling how far it can spread in our own awareness and growth, and the power of what we can do in turn to bring it to others through active works of love in myriad forms. The image of the birds of the air taking nest in the branches gives me a picture of safe haven for the gentle things, including angelic presence. It is a vivid, wonderful image of the capacity hidden in the tiny seeds, in the word of the gospel.

"The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." This, again, is a powerful metaphor about growth - and transformation. Leaven is a transforming agent, that once mixed in any form of dough creates an action of change: usually lightening and softening because of the enzymatic action of the leaven, transforming the entire quantity of meal in the parable. Once again, we are to understand Jesus' words, his gospel, as a powerful agent of transformation - within a community, within the world, within ourselves. In this case, perhaps a few people (such as the apostles) will transform a community, and the known world. Its measured start creates immeasurable effects that transform the whole. It is a story of energy and power contained in this agent of change, and the effects it creates.

Finally, we are given a quotation: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world." It is from Psalm 78:2. Jesus explains once again the power of his teaching in parables. He reveals what has not been revealed - through language that speaks to the inmost self that perceives spiritual reality. This leaven, and the mustard seed, as he has explained through his parables, is something that must take hold in us. We are capable of understanding at once through this transformational activity, and at the same time through our own deep hidden choices. Somewhere in our hearts, we ask to know, to receive, our hearts are open to wisdom. The notion of hard-heartedness, again, must be reviewed. We ask and we shall receive. If we refuse, if we do not want to know or to perceive spiritual wisdom (and of course this includes an understanding of love and relationship), then we are "hard-hearted." We take all the parables together that we have so far received, and we understand the rootedness of the seeds, the fermentation and transformational activity of the leaven, the powerful growth of the mustard seed. It all begins with our "yes" to the action of grace, when we open the door of our hearts. How will this seed take root in you? How will you embrace the transforming action of the leaven? These are the questions that, to me, Jesus asks of all of us. At the same time, he is teaching about its powerful growth - the reality of the kingdom is one that takes on the world and transforms and builds. The myriad birds of the air that may make their nests in the mustard "tree" testify to the new forms of holiness, the gifts that can be received. Its ever-growing nature is in the transforming agent of the leaven: as we are changed, as community changes and grows, we will see its action, its bubbles permeating and transforming, lightening and softening, growing new action and new forms of holiness in its effect.

How does growth and transformation affect your life? To what new things do you open the door when you receive the word, in faith? This is an ongoing process, not one written in stone - static and complete in one fell swoop. No, it is something that takes hold, and grows, with a growth that never stops as long as we keep saying our "yes" to its grace. Its growth will surprise us, and what we can do in its spirit can amaze. Be that sturdy shrub with its branches, allow its leaven to permeate, and see what it can do in you, and in your life.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Another parable he put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ' "

My study bible has a note on this passage. It also applies to the verses that will be in our reading the day after tomorrow (37-43), when, as in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus will explain to his disciples the meaning of this parable of the Wheat and the Tares. My study bible notes, "The parable of the wheat and tares builds on the previous parable of the sower. Here Christ the Sower gives attention to the work of the enemy (v.25), the devil, who comes to sow his own seed after the fruits have multiplied. Falsehood comes in after truth: after the prophets come false prophets; after Christ will come the Antichrist. The devil fashions falsehood and heresy to resemble the true Faith: the weeds look somewhat like the wheat. The evil one also comes while everybody is asleep. While the devices of the evil one do not extend into heaven, in this age he intermingles the counterfeit with the Kingdom. This parable explains why the Church does not expel her nominal members. To weed out the tares is to disrupt the wheat (v. 29)."

I think that it's important that Jesus gives us two vivid "word pictures" about sowing and harvesting, because it says to me that he is explaining to us different aspects about the reality of this kingdom. By using different stories involving similar elements, he gives us a viewpoint of different facets of the reality he's trying to teach to us. (Tomorrow's reading - about the Mustard Seed, and the Leaven, will also give us a different perspective using a similar element of sowing.)

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus taught us about himself, as one who comes sowing the Word. The different elements of that parable were used to explain how various influences take away the effectiveness of the word, his teachings. With that parable, the "enemy" snatched away those sown "by the wayside." The birds who devoured the seed "snatched away" what was sown in the heart that did not understand. In today's parable, the "enemy" does some sowing of his own. He sows tares among the wheat from the good seed. "Tares" in Greek is the word "zizania." This is a kind of rye-grass or darnel which resembles wheat. (Interestingly, it's a common expression in modern Greek to refer to a child who is "acting up" as "zizanio" - the singular form of the word. This can be used in an affectionate way, and no doubt derives from the parable.) So, what we have in this parable is a teaching about that which resembles the crop of the good seed, but is in fact false. This suggests to me ideas that are misleading. In other ways it could be the fruits of the crop that look similar - make a resemblance to the right thing - but in fact are false, not the good crop Christ calls his own.

What it is, in fact, is a parable about judgment, and the idea that all grow together in this world until the end of the age. That this is the nature of our world and our lives in the world, and in the church. We all grow together. We find in our world the true and the false, the good crop and that of the false seed that resembles the true. This is why, perhaps, life can be so confusing - the "right thing" isn't always obvious, and we are given such a dizzying array of choices in life. It also tells us that life is not simple but complex, and leads us to understand that we are to live within this reality. We await the judgment and the end of the age - and we are not the judges.

What does this parable say to you? I hope that all will refresh their memories about why Jesus teaches this way in the reading Why do you speak to them in parables? and consider this one for yourself. What does it say to you? How does it speak to you? Does it sometimes seem confusing that there are so many places to turn to, so many things to choose from and different directions to go? Do we remind ourselves often that this world is meant to be one in which there is an array of variables, of opinions, of false fruit and good? That we need not only discernment, but also tolerance and patience? What is your way to understand this for yourself? I wish you peace, and the patience to await good judgment. And the serenity to persevere despite the difficulties. Seek the kingdom in your heart, in prayer, and find that good seed and help it to take root and bear the good harvest.

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